Tuesday, August 21, 2007

OK, she's stupid, too.


It's not that Canada's Lowest Common Denominatrix™ is a dishonest douchebag, but she's apparently a moron, too. How else to explain this latest bit of right-wing stupidity?

Can Canada's Water Be Exported To Bush's Amerikkka? An Experiment.
Guest post by the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Leader of the Official Opposition

After consulting many many experts, I set up the the following experiment using standard garden hose to represent a continent wide drainage system.

My garden's topography is a close representation of the geography of the North American continent. The grass had been cut by my gardener to an even height of 5cm. Note this hose is easily bendable, has no significant rigidity, and was not reinforced in any way. The hose was spliced and secured by green duct tape.

Yessir, that's a real knee-slapper, all right. Sadly, it fails to address why the export of bulk water is such a contentious issue, and that's because, under the rules of NAFTA, once we start selling bulk water to the U.S., we will not have the legal right to stop.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the consequences of beginning to sell bulk water abroad is explained here, particularly in this passage:

A third issue identified by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as arising from the question of whether water is subject to the NAFTA is the relationship between bulk water removal and chapter 11 of the Agreement. Chapter 11 applies to measures adopted or maintained by a NAFTA country relating to investors, and investments of investors, of another NAFTA country in its territory. As well, chapter 11 provides a mechanism for dealing with investor-state disputes relating to a NAFTA country’s alleged breach of obligations under chapter 11. The department has identified two principal obligations of chapter 11 most often cited as being relevant to bulk water removals: providing national treatment; and paying compensation in cases of expropriation.

The national treatment obligation of the NAFTA (Article 1102) requires that any measure adopted by Canada, relating to an investor of another NAFTA country, must accord treatment no less favourable than it accords, in like circumstances, to its own domestic investors. The same applies to investments of an investor of another NAFTA country. It is the department’s view that a regulatory measure relating to an investor of another NAFTA country (or an investment of an investor of such a country) would be consistent with the national treatment obligation if it prohibited the bulk removal of water from water basins in a manner that did not discriminate between investors, in like circumstances, on the basis of nationality. The department therefore contends that Canada’s proposed strategy to prohibit the bulk removal of water from Canadian watersheds, whether for domestic purposes or export, is in keeping with the above obligation. The strategy is discussed subsequently in this paper.

In other words, at least from what I've seen, Canada's progressives are the ones who understand the actual issues here, while Canada's small, brain-dead wankers are spending their time writing about garden hoses and yukking it up.

Yeah, I'm sure that surprises you, too.

9 comments:

Southern Quebec said...

RE: AND SHE'S STUPID TOO!

Little off topic, but...why does Mensa advertise on her site?

Ti-Guy said...

It wasn't off-topic, Southern Quebec...it was passive-aggressive and witless. Take up a hobby; I suggest masturbation.

Anyway, of course she's stupid; she's manifesting the Dunning Kruger Effect, aka "the smart person's burden."

Southern Quebec said...

Ti-guy:
I will talk slower. Mensa is for smart people (ie IQ over 131). The average IQ of a SmallDeadAnimal Troll is room temperature. The odds of one of these trolls actually knowing what Mensa is, is probably the same as George Bush having an original thought.

Nonny said...

All your water are belong to us.

Ti-Guy said...

Apologies, Southern Quebec. I thought you were a wingnut, and I interpreted your comment through that filter. Kate's minions think she's brilliant.

I quit Mensa after one meeting; it was scary...

¢rÄbG®äŠŠ said...

Southern Québec: "Little off topic, but...why does Mensa advertise on her site?"

Thats' a good question. I wonder if Rolls Royce advertises at bingo halls.

Southern Quebec said...

Ti-guy: There are no wingnuts in southern Quebec :)

Ti-Guy said...

Thank La Chartre de la langue française for that, eh? ;)

¢rÄbG®äŠŠ said...

Ti-Guy: "I quit Mensa after one meeting; it was scary..."

Wow. Are there fees? I can't imagine. I'd love to know what goes on...

If I were to attend, I'm afraid it would go like this:

CRABGRASS: So... I guess you think you're pretty fucking smart?

INNOCENT STRANGER: Well, I'm right around the 99.3rd percentile.

CG: Huh. Right. I didn't mean to sound hostile. I was kind of joking... you know... Um,... anyway, I'm gonna go grab a drink I guess. Maybe I'll see you later on -

IS: Sure thing. I'm gonna just, uh, go over there.

CG: Right. See you 'round.